Lukas was in bed. With Tanya.

After the initial aggression on her part, he had divested his own clothes off and joined her in bed. He met her eyes and found molten desire in them.

“Give it to me,” she murmured.

Lukas smiled.

Pushing himself over her, their bodies joined and Tanya threw her head back in ecstasy. It was gentle, loving. Her coos of pleasure felt far more erotic than any dirty talk he had heard before. He was on top of her, and that was how it stayed. One position, one steady pace, and electricity coursing through their bodies.

It wasn’t until several minutes, that he realized that being with Tanya was actually a great deal different from what he was accustomed to.

Honestly, it was actually very disturbing.

Tanya was enjoying herself, he could tell that, but the thing was she was enjoying herself far too much.

No matter where or how he touched her, it was as though every contact only heightened her pleasure. She responded in the normal way to that sensation like any other human woman, climaxing when it reached an appropriate threshold, but even when he tried to ease up on her, to try and let her come down a bit, she continued to apparently feel nothing but ecstasy from his actions. She had already had enough orgasms to break any record he might have had with his previous partners. It was as though every inch of her was somehow an erogenous zone.

And throughout it all, her expression never changed from the same hazy eyed look she had given when she had come over her.

There should have been something, some indicator about what she was going through physically, but Tanya’s features just continued to remain unchanged, even though the rest of her body kept reacting appropriately. It was then that Lukas realized that something was utterly wrong with the creature in his arms.

Was it a bremetan thing? It was hardly the first time he had been struck in the face by the alien-ness of the bremetan or yokai mindset. He needed to remember that no matter how much she looked and felt human, she wasn’t.

She was a bremetan. With a yokai heritage.

But something told him that it was more than just that.

It wasn’t that she was unnaturally sensitive or anything like that. It wasn’t his touches that were bringing out this reaction, he realized, but rather, that it was HIM that was doing the touching. Tanya had already admitted that she loved him, and she had her powers manipulated by the goddess of Desire herself. It was almost like she was so totally consumed with the emotion, that just the act of being with him regardless of whatever he did was enough to apparently satisfy her.

Just to test his theories, he allowed her to be on top. It didn’t matter. Tanya just kept impaling herself on him, her eyes closed, as if in a trance, chanting his name and asking him to keep going, like some perverted mantra. He felt her squeeze and pulse, soaking him, her mouth opening in a silent scream, but her eyes remained glazed as before.

And she just kept on going. Without pause.

A shiver of pure terror slithered down his spine as he realized that maybe all was not well with this girl, not like he had believed. Between her own nightmarish past, Inanna’s spell, the Everfrost slowly corrupting her soul, and the recent damage to her psychic architecture, maybe Tanya was far more fragile than he had thought. She had tried to get past the spell, but was that really the case? He had thought so during their conversations, but now…

The terrifying realization was almost enough to make him lose his own arousal, but the self-control he had gained from exposure to the Supreme Queen proved enough for him to continue the act. Still, he decided to hurry up and end it sooner, despite his lifeforce being enough for him to drag it for far, far longer. He was beginning to get worried that the continued state of arousal might be unhealthy for her.

The air around him literally shook, pressing against his skin and making it rippled visibly as though against a strong wind, but he felt nothing. A strange, alien power exuded out of Tanya, buzzing into him through every inch of his skin in contact with her, like electricity flowing through high-voltage cables.

Only it was cold. Terrifyingly cold. It engulfed his body into a glacier, making him want to pull his hands back out of sheer instinct, but his lifeforce surged higher than ever, all but forcing him to go faster and rougher on her. Between the surge of lust, the alienness of the situation and the power flooding into him, he wasn’t able to properly focus, the suddenness too abrupt for him to keep up. He looked up at Tanya’s face to see what was going on, and discovered that Tanya wasn’t there anymore. It looked like Tanya, but it was wrong, the expression different, the eyes too alert to be equated to the hazy look her face had been wearing and the posture of her neck and body too rigid for someone that had been lost in abandon so recently.

Lukas swallowed, his thoughts frantically settling on an identification as enough cues and hazy memories of previous encounters came to the forefront of his mind. The silvery white hair, the glacial eyes, the flawless pale skin revealed to him in her disconcertingly naked form, her expression and her body language oozing pure animal attraction was —

“Frost,” he murmured.

Her lips twisted into a wide, cruel smile, as she brought her face downward, her tongue softly tasting his lips, her right hand crawling over his cheek.

“Why yes, my Outsider. It is a lovely way to meet again, wouldn’t you say?”

…

…

…

For several moments, Lukas couldn’t do anything but stare at the face only a few inches from him. Haphazardly, he took stock of the situation. He was currently in the presence of an alien power, a Taboo that Inanna had locked away deep within Tanya’s soul. No doubt Meynte’s actions had allowed it to escape, and if not, then at least temporarily exert her influence when Tanya was not in complete control of her mental faculties.

Like being in the throes of orgasmic sex.

He swallowed hard, his throat almost too dry to get any words out. Her posture alone confirmed their respective roles as predator and prey, and given how she was mounting him, not even his instincts could help him get away from this creature.

With Frost. The manifestation of the End of Potential itself.

Belatedly, he tried to pull away, get some distance between himself and Frost, but it was useless, as the same arms that had been on his chest moments, scratching him with passion, were now trapping him inescapably in the same position they were locked in.

A throaty little laugh bubbled out of her frozen-mulberry lips. It took a moment to realize that she was laughing at his fear.

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“I did not expect to meet you,” he croaked, having finally regained his voice. “Especially not like this.”

“Mmmm…” she hummed softly, licking her lips. She shifted slightly, impaling herself further upon him. “How curious. You are a soulcrafter, an anomaly, a source of Creation, however unique. You recognize me as your antithesis. And yet, I sense strong feelings of protection and love overflowing between you and my fragile vessel. The dichotomy is exquisite.”

Yes, he thought, somehow keeping himself from being hysterical. If only barely.

“What do you want?” He asked, through gritted teeth. Normally he’d have summoned a salvo of snark, but it just wouldn’t come. Maybe he was just too scared, and with good reason.

Her eyes gleamed. “You know what I want, Outsider. I aided you earlier, and now, it is time you fulfill your end of the bargain.”

Damn it. He had thought he had been able to evade that.

“If this is about me freeing you, it was never part of the bargain.”

He had to hand it over to her. She had worded the entire information in a way that made him believe that he had no option but to unleash the bindings Inanna had put on her.

But she had underestimated him. Underestimated how far he was willing to go. How unpredictable he could be if he put his mind to it.

He had been able to get rid of Meynte without having to unbind Fimbulwinter from Inanna’s spell. But curse that stupid Queen! In her rage and her willingness to see me defeated, she had done the very thing that she wanted to stop. She had drawn a little too much Everfrost, enough for it to start possessing Tanya again. How far the effects of this possession reached was an entirely different matter altogether.

Her mouth quivered, and she let out a wicked laugh. “You speak the truth, Outsider. Underestimating you was my folly. You vanquished the Glacier Queen without unleashing me. I’m impressed.”

As if to make a point, she grinded herself against him.

“I underestimated you as well,” Lukas said. “I didn’t expect you to take control again. My… spell should’ve held you back.”

Her lips twisted into that poisonous smile again. “Not yours. That goddess’s. Whoever she was, her power was mighty. Not even Amaterasu shines that bright, and she has Eternal Light as her very domain.”

Her words twisted a knife in his heart. If she knew that, then…

“You are not her,” said Frost, “but I can sense vestiges of her power within you. An echo, lost in time. A power exuding a majestic Truth, but one who’s bedrock is cemented in something closer to my own existence.”

Lukas had a sneaking suspicion of what she was referring to.

“Do not fret, Outsider. Even now, her power binds me. It takes a rare situation for my vessel to lose all semblance of control over her mind and heart.” She looked down at where their bodies joined. “And what a wonderful sensation it is. I cannot blame her for losing control.”

And now he didn’t know what to think anymore.

“I’m glad that the Avatar of Fimbulwinter considers me a good lay. But I’m afraid my services aren’t for free.”

She lifted her chin slightly, a gesture of pride, and another small smile quirked her mouth. “You are in my debt, Outsider. I answered your questions, and you incurred an obligation. I do not believe in charity.”

“Oh?” Lukas asked, narrowing his eyes. “And this is how you choose to settle it?”

That wicked laugh again. “You would wish that, won’t you?”

“Definitely.” He said. There was no point beating around the bush. “Not only would I wish that, I’d be eager.”

“Mmmm…” She moaned, dragging her ice-cold finger down his chest. If not for the knowledge that his life was in peril, he’d have considered it erotic. It certainly didn’t help that the lifeforce surging within him kept his manhood erect. “You tempt me so, Outsider. I might agree, upon a condition.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Which is?”

“Another bargain. Someone of your talents can be very useful for my designs.”

He barked out a laugh. “I’m looking for a way to close the bargain, woman. And your suggestion is to start another one? I don’t know what to do except to laugh.”

Her lips slithered into a quiet smile, reminding him of Inanna. “Remember, Outsider. You wish to save this vessel from turning into a living nightmare. Surely it won’t hurt you to listen to my offer?”

“Yeah,” he deadpanned. “I’ve heard that before. It’s really funny that you’re concerned about Tanya becoming a living nightmare, when you’re the nightmare itself.”

The fingers of her right hand crawled over his cheek, towards his temples. “I’m not the girl, Outsider. Neither am I the parasites you deal with. I am the Incarnation of the End.” Her face went cold and unpleasant. “And when someone decides to be stubborn, I simply go mad.”

Lukas swallowed. There was no point in getting her infuriated. Besides, he was still obligated to do one task for her.

“Do you not wish her back? Your goddess?”

The bottom fell out of his stomach. Of all the things he had expected her to say, this wasn’t it. He had no more doubts that Frost knew what Inanna did to her, as well as every single thing he had confided in Tanya. Damn it. He had confided in someone just once, and it had backfired on him.

If she knew what she wanted and was willing to use it as a bargaining chip, that meant she was on the level with her offer.

“What of it?”

That poisonous smile again. “If you are willing to hear the terms of my bargain, perhaps… you might find something interesting there.”

“Fine. I’m listening.”

“There,” she said, grinding her hips again. “Not so untamable, after all.”

He clenched his fists. “What do you want?”

“One favor you owe me,” she said. “Owe me two more, and in return, I shall fulfill two obligations to you.”

“Any obligation?”

She smiled. “Any obligation.”

He looked at her warily. This was hardly the first time he was making a bargain with entities way beyond his paygrade, but this was definitely the first that said entity was offering to be in his obligation, without knowing their details beforehand.

No. He told himself. That’s what she wants you to think.

No entity of her stature would freely wish to bind herself to such open-ended obligations. Not unless she was fully assured of what they would be. And given she was currently possessing her and they were away from the Eternal Light…

He took a deep breath and got his heart rate under control. Then he met her eyes. “Let me guess, one of those favors would be letting Tanya have her body back.”

Her eyes glinted like chips of ice. “If you wish. Between the two of us, I’m a lot better company.”

As if to make a point, she raised herself slightly only to sink back down, lifting her head and exhaling in ecstasy. Then she looked down at him. “However, you seem to have an unnatural affection for my vessel, so should you wish, I shall recede into the depths of her soul, only to resurface when you call for me.”

He didn’t believe her.

“And about bringing Inanna back?”

She tilted her head, and blinked her eyes, slowly. “There are ways of achieving that impossible dream. Ways that go against the Great Progenitor. Ways enshrouded in dark paths similar to my own.”

“You’re talking about Taboo.”

“Perceptive,” she smiled. “Bringing that which does not exist is against the laws of the world, is it not?”

Lukas had heard that the ways of the Lord were infinite. The same could be said about the Devil too. He had been thinking about the former all this while, but Frost was suggesting the latter. A walk on the reverse side of Potential, the way of Taboo. It sounded all very enticing except for one thing.

He was an Anomaly.

A source of Creation.

Even if what she was saying was possible, assimilating a Taboo, much like how Meynte assimilated Fimbulwinter, would utterly destroy him.

“How?”

“Ah-ah-Ah! Outsider. These lips shall speak of nothing unless you agree.”

Lukas rubbed his mouth, mulling over her words. As far as her obligations went, she was safe. He would not lose Tanya to her, and that exhausted the first bargain. And information on getting Inanna back constituted the second. Basically, she was holding him by his balls, and if he agreed to this, he’d owe her two new obligations.

Damned if he did.

Damned if he didn’t.

“So…” asked Frost, leaning down against his chest. “Do we have a bargain?”